Queensland lungfish
| Queensland lungfish Temporal range: 100–0 Ma Cretaceous – Recent |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Sarcopterygii |
| Subclass: | Dipnoi |
| Order: |
Ceratodontiformes L. S. Berg, 1940 |
| Family: |
Ceratodontidae T. N. Gill, 1873 |
| Genus: |
Neoceratodus J. L. G. Krefft, 1870 |
| Species: | N. forsteri |
| Binomial name | |
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Neoceratodus forsteri (J. L. G. Krefft, 1870) |
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The Queensland lungfish, Neoceratodus forsteri (also known as the Australian lungfish, Burnett salmon, and barramunda), is the sole surviving member of the family Ceratodontidae and order Ceratodontiformes. It is one of only six extant lungfish species in the world. Endemic to Australia, the Ceratodontidae are an ancient family belonging to the class Sarcopterygii, or lobe-finned fishes.
Fossil records of this group date back 380 million years, around the time when the higher vertebrate classes were beginning to evolve. Fossils of lungfish almost identical to this species have been uncovered in northern New South Wales, indicating that Neoceratodus has remained virtually unchanged for well over 100 million years, making it a living fossil and one of the oldest living vertebrate genera on the planet.
It is one of six extant representatives of the ancient air-breathing Dipnoi (lungfishes) that flourished during the Devonian period (about 413–365 million years ago) and is the most primitive surviving member of this lineage. The five other freshwater lungfish species, four in Africa and one in South America, are very different morphologically from N. forsteri. The Queensland lungfish can live for several days out of the water, if it is kept moist, but will not survive total water depletion, unlike its African counterparts.
The small settlement of Ceratodus, Queensland, derives its name from that of the Queensland lungfish.
The Queensland lungfish is native only to the Mary and Burnett River systems in south-eastern Queensland. It has been successfully distributed to other, more southerly rivers, including the Brisbane, Albert, Stanley, and Coomera Rivers, and the Enoggera Reservoir in the past century. The Queensland lungfish has also been introduced to the Pine, Caboolture, and Condamine Rivers, but current survival and breeding success are unknown. Formerly widespread, at one time at least seven species of lungfish were in Australia.
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Wikipedia